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In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature's mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one - year - old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to make the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”
At the time, most scientists didn't believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn't have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet, you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and these days more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.
“That's why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said. “Some people, in fact, called me crazy for trying this.”
These days, we have more and more proofs that animals have all kinds of mental abilities. Sheep can tell faces from each other. Chimpanzees use different kinds of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex the parrot became a very good talker.
Thirty years after the Alex studies began, Irene was still giving him English lessons until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry, he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them,” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colours, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g. wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.
Another famous pet that proved some animals had greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.
One theory for dogs' ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries, so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving (进化). While animals can't do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intellectual ability, as well as physical appearance.
(
A. what a parrot thinks
B. why a parrot can speak
C. how parrots make sounds
D. if parrots speak English
(
A. singing them
B. reading them
C. writing them
D. rehearing them
(
A. understand some words
B. recognize strange voices
C. copy human movements
D. tell different colours
(
A. our pets understand what we say
B. dogs may speak to humans one day
C. humans are related to chimpanzees
D. mental ability can evolve in animals
In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature's mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one - year - old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to make the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”
At the time, most scientists didn't believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn't have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet, you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and these days more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.
“That's why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said. “Some people, in fact, called me crazy for trying this.”
These days, we have more and more proofs that animals have all kinds of mental abilities. Sheep can tell faces from each other. Chimpanzees use different kinds of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex the parrot became a very good talker.
Thirty years after the Alex studies began, Irene was still giving him English lessons until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry, he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them,” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colours, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g. wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.
Another famous pet that proved some animals had greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.
One theory for dogs' ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries, so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving (进化). While animals can't do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intellectual ability, as well as physical appearance.
(
A
) 34. Irene wanted to find out .A. what a parrot thinks
B. why a parrot can speak
C. how parrots make sounds
D. if parrots speak English
(
D
) 35. Alex learned new words by .A. singing them
B. reading them
C. writing them
D. rehearing them
(
A
) 36. The two dogs mentioned in the article could .A. understand some words
B. recognize strange voices
C. copy human movements
D. tell different colours
(
D
) 37. The article concludes that .A. our pets understand what we say
B. dogs may speak to humans one day
C. humans are related to chimpanzees
D. mental ability can evolve in animals
答案
34—37 ADAD
